Keep Me In Your Memories
by My Reality Is My Own
Summary: Gift Fic for grieverwings. They were on the edge of oblivion and it was the last thing on their minds.   RikkuxAuron


Summary: It's before the fight against Sin, and it's the last thing on their minds. [RikkuxAuron] Gift for grieverwings!

Merry Christmas! :D Tis a gift for from their wish list. I hope you like it.

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The quietness was halted when Rikku gasped awake, lurching up in her sleep enough that she almost fell forward. She was no stranger to nightmares, especially ones that had thunder in them, but this one was different. Rather than it being about anything that had happened lately, such as learning Yuna would die to kill Sin for only a measly ten years or that Tidus was...well, the son of Sin, it was something else entirely. It was Rikku's biggest, worst fear, and it was much worse than lightning.

Being invisible.

It seemed childish. Rikku never told anyone, even her father Cid. But every now and then, she'd be reminded of it because it would haunt her nightmares. This time had been worse than anything else. She had been trying to tell everyone a plan that would save Yuna from dying and it would permanently kill Sin forever. She couldn't remember it, of course, now that she was awake, but it seemed foolproof. But when she tried to talk to everyone, they couldn't hear her. They couldn't even see her, and would walk through her when she tried to stop them.

_'I...I need air,'_

She patted herself off and began walking, glancing back at her party. Tidus always ended up in the oddest positions when he was sleeping, this time being sprawled out completely out of his sleeping bag. Yuna was on her side, next to Lulu. Kimahari***** was sleeping against a tree, and Wakka was snoring on the opposite side of the fire, Reminding herself that she was forgetting someone, Rikku looked around for Auron only to see that he was sleeping upright. _'Does he always do that?'_

Sighing, she kept walking, glad to be around trees again. They were on some mountain side, on their way to Sin. They would play the Hymn and hopefully that would stall Sin long enough that they could get inside of it and fight...fight Tidus's father. This bothered her, seeing as a lot of her own family and people had been killed. And Tidus didn't seemingly mind killing his father. They apparently had a bad history, and Tidus was rather touchy about it. Still, Rikku knew that the odd ball loved his father, she could see it in his eyes...

_'And he obviously loves Yunie,'_ she thought, frowning. Her cousin was very important to her, not just because they were, well, cousins, but because Yuna was so strong. Maybe not physically, but she never seemed to let herself down. She smiled when she wanted, and she was sad when she was. Rikku wanted that too, she was sick of smiling. What was there to smile about right now? She was trembling from her dream, and she hated reality because soon, she was going to lose Yuna as well.

She closed her eyes, trying to think. Immediately, the image of her hand going through Lulu's arm came to mind and she bit her lip, feeling her hands begin to shake. Why was this so hard? She didn't have time to be scared of something so stupid, she needed to think up a plan! She and Tidus had been trying so hard these past few weeks and nothing was working or coming to mind...though, maybe she needed to talk to Tidus about...well, him. He had only recently found out that Zanarkand was a fake, imaginary place that the Aeons thought up...And they wanted to stop soon. Would she lose him and Yuna at the same time?

"You'll go crazy if you keep doing that."

Rikku jumped, whirling around to see that Auron had snuck up on her. "Doing what?"

"Thinking like that. You're obviously not used to it."

She blinked, in shock that Auron was teasing someone who wasn't Tidus. She took the mature route and stuck out her tongue. "Bully."

He gave a half-smile, walking over next to her. "You're worried about Yuna."

She sighed. "And Tidus...what's going to happen to them?"

"I can't say." he answered. "Yuna has resolved herself to die...and do anything it takes to bring down Sin forever. Tidus must either follow his father's footsteps or...stop existing."

Rikku clenched her fists, suddenly having to fight against the want of punching the swordsman. "How can you say it like that? Yunie is giving up everything, and even Tidus...he's either going to kill people or just be erased from the world! It's not fair, they obviously love each other! Why can't they be happy?"

Auron closed his eyes, sighing. "Love is a complicated thing."

"It doesn't have to be." Rikku argued. "Either you love someone or you don't. Either you care about someone or you don't. Don't give me that speal about fake love or loving from a distance, I've heard it all before. It's dumb."

He chuckled, looking down at her with her arms crossed and hunched over. "You really think that?"

"Yes!"

"Then it's true...even if it's just to you."

Rikku decided that she was sick of being angry and deflated, swinging her arms. Why was this happening? Were Auron and herself just meant to have this moment, on the edge of destruction and heartbreak, when everything was being risked to be lost? What if the hymn didn't work? What if Yuna died, and Sin was still around for those ten years? What if Sin couldn't be destroyed just like Yunalesca said? And what if...what if they all forgot? About Tidus, Yuna, Sin, each other, their adventures...

What if Rikku forgot? What if she was forgotten?

"You ever loved someone, Auron?" she asked, curious.

He shook his head. "No...my job made it hard."

"I've always wondered how you know...I mean, it's obvious when someone is in love, but how does that person know?" Seeing that Auron wasn't going to reply, she continued. "What makes someone love someone else? What makes them want to do anything for them? I mean...is it like being friends? I'd die for anyone here...well, most anyone..."

She saw him smirk. "Wakka is getting better."

"He's still a jerk." she muttered, reached down and picking up a pebble to throw in tha air. She felt better doing something. "Yunie's an Al Bhed, and he treats her like a queen. I'm Al Bhed and he thinks I'm going to rob him then leave him to die against Sin."

"Would you?"

"Eh, if he pisses me off enough."

Rikku winced when he swatted her head, reaching up to rub it. That hurt! "Ow!"

"Don't talk like that." he said.

"Jerk." She took a couple steps away from him just to be safe. "Have you ever liked someone enough that you thought you might love them?"  
"Are we really going to discuss this?" he asked back, looking annoyed. "Neither of us have any time for such things, especially me..."

Rikku frowned. "Why? Is it 'beneath' you?"

"No. I'm going to die soon."

Silence. Rikku froze, repeating those words. He sounded so certain...Did he really think that? How? Did he think that Tidus would, for a second, allow such a thing to happen? Did he think none of them would fight for him? Or did he just know that, somewhere deep down, it'd happen because it must? Was he planning on dying because of them, or for them?

"Is the thought that distressing for you?"

It was only then that Rikku realized she was crying. She tried to wipe them away, she didn't want to ruin the talk they were having, but instead they came faster. Everything that had happened these past few weeks hit her full on and she couldn't stop herself. She began to sob, and she crumbled to her knees. She was afraid. The right hand of her father and of her people, and she was afraid. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to lose her new friends.

She didn't want to be forgotten.

She didn't want to forget them.

She didn't want to lose her friends...

She didn't...want to lose them. She didn't want to give up on them.

"I-I'm sorry..." she choked out, not wanting to see the way Auron was looking at her. "I'm b-being stupid."

She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't cry for things that haven't happened yet. You have nothing to be scared of."

"But Yuna...and Tidus..."

He shook his head. "Just because someone disappears...doesn't mean they're gone."

She choked again, trying to get the words out. "You...A-Auron, you're..."

At this he sighed, looking away from her. "I was destined to die in this fight from the beginning. I know what I need to do." When she didn't look any better, he continued. "I lied, I guess...about what I said earlier. I've loved someone, and I know that they all cared about me back."

"...Who?"

"You. Yuna, the brat." She laughed. "You and Tidus are willing to cry over me. That's enough reassurance that I won't be forgotten."

Rikku sniffed, wiping her face with her arm. "It's not just all this...I had a nightmare."

He nodded, not looking at her like she was stupid or criticizing her. Instead, he just helped to her feet (with only one hand at that) and began to walk her back to the camp. Before they made it into the firelight, he paused.

"Being forgotten isn't something that one can stop. It happens to everyone...but you need to focus on the people who would never forget you as long as it meant that they were living. You have companions here that would rather die than have you lost to them. And you need to reassure them that you won't forget them either."

Rikku nodded, still feeling a weight on her heart but knowing that at least Auron understood her. She'd keep fighting against the world if it meant keeping her two best friends here with her. And she'd be damned if she allowed Auron to go without a fight.

"I care about you, Auron. Just like Yunie and Tidus."

He smiled, shaking his head. "If only this story wasn't ending..."

She smiled, knowing exactly what he was getting at. "I don't know if you could handle me."

Still, she hugged him before running back to the camp, curling up on her sleeping bag and not looking at the swordsman until a few hours later, when Yuna tried to wake her up.

"Rikku, what happened to you?" Tidus asked, grinning. "You looked terrible."

She threw a grenade at him, laughing when he screamed and ran off before realizing that it hadn't been detonated. "Baby."

She hid her pain well when Auron was being Sent...and she knew that he felt that same when he looked at her.

She tried to smile when Tidus jumped, disappearing with the Aeons.

She waited a few weeks before she told Yuna about what Auron had said about being gone, but not dead. She felt better about it all when Yuna smiled and announced that they were going to run away and become Sphere Hunters. Rikku picked the name.

She kept her promise. She never forgot them, not when Gippal hit on her or when Tidus and Yuna were hugging in the waters of where they had first met. Rikku just smiled because she wanted to. And she thought about how happy Auron would be, seeing them together.

_'Love isn't complicated...when you know what you feel,'_

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Well, I hope that it's up to par with what you wanted, grieverwings! I wanted to focus more on the nightmare and Auron comforting Rikku, but then the writing just kinda went off and I like it and don't like it. :\ It depends on if you like it! :D

*** : it's been awhile since I've played FFX so I might spell some names wrong. I hope I don't, but mistakes happen. ^^* So please forgive me and let me know if I did in a nice way. Thanks**.

MRIMO


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